Guys and gals,
I'm getting serious about buying a canoe and wanted some pointers.

Some of you may remember my grandmother passed away on Jan 1. I'm getting about 1,000 from what was left of her estate after all the bills were paid. I think she would have liked it if I got something to use fishing. Two things she used to look forward to were when I brought a guitar over to her place and played a few old gospel songs and listening to fishing adventures.

So, I want a canoe. A SOT Kyak isn't really going to work for me because I do want to be taking my son, Daniel, with me so I need something that will hold 2 people.

Many times I'll be going solo.

I was looking at an Old Town Guide 147 which size wise looked good but I'm a little concerned about tossing 75 pounds over my head on top of the van.

I have no interest of ever putting in where there's white water. Mostly fishing small to medium sized lakes and a few lazy streams. I'm not terribly concerned about speed. When fishing, I don't have anyplace I have to be at a certain time and want mainly to relax.

So, do you all have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Jeff

Troutman

03-05-2010, 08:28 AM

Guys and gals,
I'm getting serious about buying a canoe and wanted some pointers.

Great pix Troutman! My girlfriend bought me a Mad River Adventure 14' for Christmas, and I can't wait to do some float fishing this year!

Jeff, I have already taken my canoe out. It weighs 75 lbs, and I'm gonna go ahead and say that unless you are STOUT that it is a bit too long and heavy to handle loading and unloading solo. I know I could manage to load it on my own, but I'd sure rather have a helping hand. You may be wise to look for something a bit on the lighter side, at least until your boy gets old enough to lend a hand.

Bfish

03-05-2010, 12:16 PM

If you and your son are both planning on flyfishing, I say get a two man pontoon or a raft. Nearly impossible for two people to flyfish out of the canoe.
Heck, one person flyfishing out of canoe (especially if they have to standup) is tough for most. Adding the shifting weight of someone else just makes it that much tougher. If your just using the canoe to transport you to the next wading spot, then you will have no issues.

A small trailer makes loading so much easier with either boat choice.

A pontoon like a fishcat 13 can also easily be ran solo.

jeffnles1

03-05-2010, 12:20 PM

Great pix Troutman! My girlfriend bought me a Mad River Adventure 14' for Christmas, and I can't wait to do some float fishing this year!

Jeff, I have already taken my canoe out. It weighs 75 lbs, and I'm gonna go ahead and say that unless you are STOUT that it is a bit too long and heavy to handle loading and unloading solo. I know I could manage to load it on my own, but I'd sure rather have a helping hand. You may be wise to look for something a bit on the lighter side, at least until your boy gets old enough to lend a hand.

Troutman and Carlito,
Great advice. Yes, the 75lbs was a bit of a concern to me as well. My son is 15 and strong as an ox for his size, but between soccer, tennis, girls, soccer, girls, oh and did I mentioion girls, I doubt if he'll be with me most of the time I want to take it out.

I fish a lot in the evenings after work and tossing it on the van, making a 10 minute drive to my local lake, fishing for a couple hours until dark, putting it back on the van and coming back home is more the normal use for it. On weekends and the like Daniel will be with me, but most evenings, I'm going to be flying solo.

I appreciate the responses. I'll look into something more in the under 60pounds range.

I suppose with a canoe it's like any other boat that wider is more stable?

Jeff

Rog 1

03-05-2010, 12:28 PM

Not sure what they are called but I have seen a bumper mounted support that has a swivel on top....one person can place the bow atop the support and then turn and lift the boat onto the top of the car on a tie down....makes it possible for a single fisherman to handle the transportation.

Carlito

03-05-2010, 12:33 PM

Not sure what they are called but I have seen a bumper mounted support that has a swivel on top....one person can place the bow atop the support and then turn and lift the boat onto the top of the car on a tie down....makes it possible for a single fisherman to handle the transportation.

Not sure who makes that, but Yakima has some boat solutions too... I think they're really designed more for kayaks, but worth checking out.

http://www.yakima.com/racks/kayak-rack/lift-assits-racks.aspx

JoelO

03-05-2010, 04:22 PM

My $0.02. I have a 12 foot Native Ultimate kayak. Probably one of the most stable out there. I've seen pictures of people standing and fishing out of them, but I wouldn't since I use it primarily on moving water. ie. Caney Fork. I think your canoe idea is a good one, especially if you're trying to keep it in the $1,000 range. 2 man kayaks are pricey so I wouldn't suggest that route. Another option would be a cheap used 14 foot john boat....to me that's the cheapest route to go if you want it to where both of you can stand up to fish. If you're fishing primarily in lakes, a pontoon or raft would be ok but I wouldn't get one if I was going to be going solo alot on a river. You can't go upstream very easily in a raft or pontoon and you'll want to do that so you can float back down to your put in spot.

irfishing

03-05-2010, 07:23 PM

Jeff,
You may want to check out the NuCanoe at NuCanoe.com.
They are very stable and the weight is not to bad.

The canoe loader mentioned by Rog 1 is available at Cabela's.
Good luck and tight lines.

DarrinG

03-05-2010, 08:14 PM

My $0.02. I have a 12 foot Native Ultimate kayak. Probably one of the most stable out there. I've seen pictures of people standing and fishing out of them, but I wouldn't since I use it primarily on moving water. ie. Caney Fork. I think your canoe idea is a good one, especially if you're trying to keep it in the $1,000 range. 2 man kayaks are pricey so I wouldn't suggest that route. Another option would be a cheap used 14 foot john boat....to me that's the cheapest route to go if you want it to where both of you can stand up to fish. If you're fishing primarily in lakes, a pontoon or raft would be ok but I wouldn't get one if I was going to be going solo alot on a river. You can't go upstream very easily in a raft or pontoon and you'll want to do that so you can float back down to your put in spot.

Joel, how well do you like the Ultimate 12, for rivers? I've been thinking about one.

Birdman

03-08-2010, 09:36 AM

My only experience is with what I currently have, a 15' Grumman Eagle square back canoe. I really like it. I have it on a trailer that makes loading/unloading a piece of cake. I run a small 3.5 hp outboard for motoring and a 40 lb. thrust trolling motor while fishing. I've got the spring creek ethafoam stabilizer floats on order to help keep her upright :biggrin: These are well made/lightweight canoes but are a bit pricey.

JoelO

03-08-2010, 01:47 PM

I really like my Ultimate 12. Its fairly light, stable, and the seat is ultra comfortable. I just throw it in the back of my truck, cinch it down with a couple of straps and I'm good to go. Your suppose to be able to stand up and fish out of them but I'm not going to try that on moving water. ie. Caney Fork. If I was looking at a new craft, my short list would include the Ultimate 12 and 14.5, the NuCanoe and the Freedom Hawk 12. I've heard the NuCanoe is very stable but I think it weighs a bit more. The Freedom Hawk 12 looks really good and it has a lever that extends some outriggers to provide stability so you can stand up to fish.

Knothead

03-09-2010, 04:48 PM

My wife and I got a 16 ft Coleman for Christmas several years ago. In looking at the price of the Coleman vs. others, I don't think it can be beat. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to use it this year. Remember, if you put any kind of motor on it, it will need to be registered. I'm cheap so I paddle.

Troutman

03-09-2010, 05:26 PM

Keep a daily eye on your local craigslistings for canoes. Not sure about Cinci. but they show up all the time in the Knoxville one. I got my canoe for about a 1/4 price of a new one and the guy threw in a trolling motor and a motor bracket.

jeffnles1

03-10-2010, 12:55 AM

Thanks for all the input.

I was going to start a new thread but thought I'd wait until I had some photos and some first hand review to post.

After a lot of thought and consideration, I decided to go with a pontoon.

Most of the time I will be solo and those times when I can pull Daniel away from soccer, girls, tennis, girls, oh and did I mention girls, I can fish from the shore and let him paddle around in the boat.

Here is the one I decided to get based on a raving good recommendation by one of my fishing buddies who owns the prior version of the same boat.